Monday 28th Jan: lazy! ~ Argh laziness is getting the better of me. I’ll finish The Meditations tomorrow!Tuesday 29th Jan: Marcus Aurelius’ “The Meditations” 2 chapters in! -Complete- ~ ok I’ve got to admit that this book was really a tough read, which could explain my long bout of laziness. First of all, it was a translation, so the language was difficult to follow. Secondly, Emperor Aurelius was fond of references that the modern reader might find hard to grasp. However, there were some classic passages that were very valuable, so all the trouble was pretty much worth it.

Monday 25 Feb: David Horowitz’s “A Point in Time” 1 Chapter in!Tuesday 26 Feb: David Horowitz’s “A Point in Time” 2 Chapters in! -Complete- ~ A very sober book that draws from Marcus Aurelius and Dostoevsky. The author reflects on the meaning of human freedom and belief as he comes to terms with his present circumstances, his family history, and his future passing. And yes I know I finished early! I took the time to read up on some psychology textbooks.

Week 9 (4 Mar ’13 to 10 Mar ’13): Introvert Power

Monday 4 Mar: Laurie Helgoe’s “Introvert Power” 4 Chapters in!Tuesday 5 Mar: Laurie Helgoe’s “Introvert Power” 4 Chapters in!Wednesday 6 Mar: Laurie Helgoe’s “Introvert Power” 4 Chapters in!Thursday 7 Mar: Laurie Helgoe’s “Introvert Power” 5 Chapters in!Friday 8 Mar: Laurie Helgoe’s “Introvert Power” 3 Chapters in! -Complete- ~ While the terms introvert and extrovert were often simplified and polarized in this book, I felt that Laurie did a great job in explaining why introverts should not feel pressured to live up to the standards of a world defined by extroverts. I loved how she weaved yin and yang, and the concepts of balance within the book – it’s not a hate fest against the “louder” people, but it accurately examines how an introvert can remain relevant to the world without betraying his or her true nature.

Week 10 (11 Mar ’13 to 17 Mar ’13): Gunn’s Golden Rules

Monday 11 Mar: Tim Gunn’s “Gunn’s Golden Rules” 4 chapters in!Tuesday 12 Mar: Tim Gunn’s “Gunn’s Golden Rules” 4 chapters in!Wednesday 13 Mar: BreakThursday 14 Mar: Tim Gunn’s “Gunn’s Golden Rules” 2 chapters in!Friday 15 Mar: Tim Gunn’s “Gunn’s Golden Rules” 4 chapters in!Saturday 16 Mar: BreakSunday 17 Mar: Tim Gunn’s “Gunn’s Golden Rules” 4 chapters in! -Complete- ~I like Gunn’s work, there is humour, class, and a lot of hard-to-get anecdotes coming from a person who is well-established in the fashion industry. I definitely appreciated his compiling of experiences because every one of his stories came with a great lesson to learn. His material was devoid of a didactic tone, which is good for an educational book like his.

Monday 25 Mar: A few pages in! ~A pretty book with no chapters. Just a lot of pictures, varied font, and short inspirationalsTuesday 26 Mar: A few pages in!Wednesday 27 Mar: A few pages in!Thursday 28 Mar: A few pages in!Friday 29 Mar: Break! (Good Friday)Saturday 30 Mar: A few pages in!Sunday 31 Mar: A few pages in! ~Alright, if you’re wondering why I can’t finish this short book within a week, and think I’m a lazy procrastinator, you’re half right! But the other half of the truth is that I’ve been working through Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s “Antifragile”. It’s so freakin’ long that I bet I’ll take a few weeks to get done with it, so I planned to get this shorter book done on the side. I will finish “The Pocket Muse” by tomorrow though!

Monday 1 Apr: A few pages in! -Complete- ~Alright I’m done with Monica’s excellent collection of inspirational and educational material! One story that she shared particularly sticks with me. It’s of her poet friend who literally had poems everywhere around her house – in the toilet, at the sink, on the teacup – her life is so saturated with poetry that her work flows so naturally out of it. I think that’s beautiful, because our writing after all tends towards the veracity of our own lives.Tuesday 2 Apr: A few chapters in!Wednesday 3 Apr: A few chapters in!Thursday 4 Apr: A few chapters in!Friday 5 Apr: A few chapters in!Saturday 6 Apr: A few chapters in!Sunday 7 Apr: A few chapters in! Currently at book IV ~ Well, Taleb’s latest book is really thick, but thankfully it’s split into seven books. I’ve read I to III over this week and last week, and maybe I’ll finish IV to VII over the next few weeks. I like how he puts across complex concepts in such a simple manner, with useful and engaging anecdotes to keep your attention and jog your imagination.

~as you can see, I’ve also decided to abandon the daily logs from here on because there’s just way too much information to process!

Week 18 (6 May ’13 to 12 May ’13): “Stumbling on Happiness” by Daniel Gilbert

A strangely uplifting book about a depressing topic: how we, by virtue of human nature, usually foil our own ability to be happy. Lots of psychology involved, filled with experiments and examples. Daniel’s writing, laden with a lot of wordy illustrations (and few anecdotes) make it a very thick read. I chose to skimp through most of text to get to the meat, which wasn’t all bad. One redeeming quality is that the insights shared by the author are pretty significant, one of which being the fact that we are usually unable to predict our future happiness correctly, because we use our current emotions as an anchor point, or because we have never experienced certain situations before.

Week 19 (13 May ’13 to 19 May ’13):“The Four Hour Chef” by Tim Ferriss

This book is about a man who decided to embark on a journey that changed his life and those around him. Sounds cliched doesn’t it! But essentially that is it, with the twist that his journey involved ditching modern consumerism by sticking to only a hundred things. During the process, he realized that he actually needed far less to be happy, and it became a norm for him to make the most out of little. The cool thing was that he did not ‘force’ his choice upon those around him. Although they were impacted by the decision he has made, they were not obliged or guilt-tripped into following him, which I felt was a great act of self-restraint on his part. Running the race alone is always difficult. Nonetheless, I believe that if he can survive on less than a hundred things a year, most of us can do it too. That should take the anxiety out of the rat race, because we don’t actually have to buy so many things after all!

Week 21 (27 May ’13 to 02 Jun ’13):“The Flinch” by Julien Smith

A great call to action book, makes you want to hit the cold showers, do a ton of push-ups, and face your fears right as you start the day.

Everything you wanted to know about willpower, from how it works, to how to increase it, can be found in this book. Written in a way that is easily accessible to the lay man, using tons of up-to-date psychology research to back up their claims, I find it the go-to book for anyone who wants to improve their nerves of steel!

Week 23 (10 Jun’13 to 16 Jun ’13): Rest Week!Went for church camp 🙂

Week 24 (10 Jun’13 to 16 Jun ’13): “Why Not Catch-21?” by Gary Dexter

I haven’t actually read most of the books that he mentioned in this funny collection, but the few that I know of do really have stories behind their titles, and those that I don’t have equally amusing tales. You’d never know what goes into the name!

Contrary to what it looks like, this manifesto by the artist of non-conformity himself does not teach any get-rich quick scheme. Instead, it emphasizes on finding a niche that you love, that people will actually pay for, and working very hard to own it. I’ve found the short manifesto very inspiring and educational; do check it out if you are interested in making a living from blogging!